William Kamkwamba, author, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," and Malawi Windmill Maker

My Dad's Maize Field

My dad, Trywell, with this year's Maize. He is 6' 5" so it's a great sign that it's over his head!

This harvest will be especially good with giant ears of maize. My family is enjoying eating the fresh maize right now, and then will dry the rest of it to save to be ground into maize flour, which forms the basis of our family's staple food Nsima, a corn dish similar in texture to Cream of Wheat.

African Economic Forum 2009

I will be speaking at this year's African Economic Forum, which will be held at Columbia University in New York City.

I will be speaking this Friday, March 27th from 6:30-7:15. If you are attending, please come and see me!

A bit about AEF:

"The intent is to foster a public discussion on the core issues of African development by having experts of various, and sometimes opposing, perspectives openly debate the merits of different approaches and policies.

"This year, the SIPA Pan-African Network is collaborating with the African Business Club (ABC) at Columbia Business School and the African Law Students Association (ALSA) at Columbia Law School to present this year’s AEF “From Assets to Action - Unmasking Africa's Diverse Resources in a Challenging Era.” AEF 2009 will explore the continent’s challenges and successes in the following areas: agriculture, law, post-conflict economic development, finance, tourism, and information and communications technology."

"Moving Windmills" at Senza Frontier Film Festival

Moving Windmills will screened at another film festival, the Senza Frontier (Without Borders) Film Festival in Rome, Italy!

"Senza Frontier is committed to show films that embrace a common humanity among people. Filmmakers expose powerful individual stories, which transcend mental and physical borders."

The schedule has not yet been announced, but I will post it as soon as I know.

"Moving Windmills" at Ashland Independent Film Festival

I'm happy to announce that Moving Windmills will be screened at the Ashland Independent Film Festival in Ashland, Oregon, where "90+ documentary, feature and short films will fill Varsity Theatre and Historic Ashland Armory. The full schedule includes Garrison Keillor, The Beatles, Cirque de Soleil, NPR film critic Elvis Mitchell, acclaimed animator Bill Plympton and numberous other independent films."

Moving Windmills will be screened Thursday April 2 at 12:40pm, Saturday April 4 at 12:40pm, and Sunday April 5 at 3:40pm. If you are going, please check it out!